The Girl In The Crimson Gown
by Emo-Die-Kaninchen
Summary: Natalia feels in shambles and Alfred is happy to roll in like a storm and steal her heart from Ivan's cold grip. Will he succeed? T for now, it may change.
1. Chapter 1

p class="MsoNormal"It was a cold spring morning as Natalia slowly strolled down a cobblestone path, admiring the rows of shops along the path. She hadn't adventured out over the past week and half after falling into a saddening depression over some news she had heard./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Natalia," A person called, pulling her from her daydream. She looked up and saw Alfred standing five feet from her. She felt her chest tighten, she hadn't wanted to see anyone she knew, knowing they would ask her how she was feeling or ask her about her newly engaged brother. She let out a soft sigh as she formed the words she wanted to speak./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Morning," she hesitantly replied, feeling a mix of emotion well up within her heart. "How are you, Alfred?" She had hoped this interaction would be cut short so that she could carry on with the thoughts inside of her mind./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm alright, but…how are you?" Alfred reached out and grasped her wrist, pulling her closer to him. She could smell the sharp cologne he was wearing, it smelled of oak and roses. It reminded her of a masculine figure with a gentle touch. She could only frown as she looked at Alfred's hand on her./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I-I am fine. You do not need to ask me how I am. I am always fine." She curtly replied to him, a bitterness in her tone as she spewed her reply to him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nat-" He felt Natalia yank her wrist away from him grip before turning on her heel, ready to flee from him. "Natalia!" Alfred spoke up, halting Natalia's escape from him. "Ivan is getting married. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I knew about her for a long time, I just…I'm sorry I never told you and that you found out the way you did." He yanked her wrist once more and spun her around, pulling her into his chest. The wind blew gently, slightly freezing Natalia's core, but she didn't seem to mind as Alfred's warmth surrounded her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAlfred picked up her curved chin and stared into her cold, emotionless eyes. His hand moving to caress her soft, ivory face. He leaned in and gently kissed her on the lips. Her eyes were wide as she attempted to make sense of what was happening./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'He-he's kissing me. A-A-Alfred's kissing me?' Natalia thought to herself as she felt his warm touch and melted into it. She felt her knees begin to buckle when Alfred placed his hand into the small of her back, pulling her closer into him. He parted her smooth lips and slipped in his moist tongue, taking advantage over the fact Natalia wasn't on the verge of murdering him with the blade he felt on her waistband. He pulled back an extended amount of time, but he hated breaking their connection as he pulled back for a breath of air. Natalia stood in front of him, frozen in confusion as what had happened./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Natalia, I know you are hurting. I know what you are going through and how much you need someone to support you in this time of need." Alfred got down on one knee as he grabbed her hand, running his thumb over the palm of her hand./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""I know what you need because I know you better than anyone else. You don't have to forget how you loved him, he is after all your first love, but please, be opened to letting me love you." He brought her hand to his lips and gently pecked it before looking up at her face, she had tears in her eyes and a crimson blush racing across her ivory cheeks. He felt a few tears from on to her hand before she slipped it away from his grip and dropped to her knees./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I HATE YOU!" She screamed loudly, punching his chest before gripping it tightly in her fists. "You knew he was seeing someone. You knew where it was heading. AND YOU KEPT IT ALL FROM ME!" She began sobbing loudly, tears freely dripping from her steely blue eyes. Alfred only sighed as he pulled her closer and let her cry into his chest./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'm a selfish bastard, and I'm sorry I kept it from you, but he would have never loved you in the way you wanted him to." The painful words cut deeper into Natalia's heart as she heard him drone on, unfortunately, she was so emotionally drained she couldn't move and eventually placed her entire weight into him. Alfred took his hand and slowly stroked her blonde hair in a calm, slow manner./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Natalia, please forgive me and allow me to watch over you. You don't have to love me back, but at least try to see me as a friend in this time." Alfred stood up, his combat boots looking intimidating as Natalia stared at them dead on. She looked up to his bright and beaming face and wiped her eyes clean; she had noticed Alfred's extended hand and reached for it. With a quick yank, Alfred pulled her up and onto her feet. He refused to let go of her hand as he pulled her behind him on the path she had been walking./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Why are you doing this Alfred? You hardly know me." She sniffles as she trails behind him. "In fact, it's insulting to say you love me when our relation is comparable to a cat watching a bird he wants to eat." Alfred softly laughs and looks back at her, squeezing her hand tightly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Because…" his voice trailed gently as he shook his head. "let's head back to my place, I'll make you some lunch and we can talk some more." Alfred lead her down a side street, lined with white petaled trees that shed with the gentle breezes. They covered Natalia's hair as she walked next to him, overwhelmed by the beauty before her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Alfred, I never knew your house was so…enchanting and beautiful." She mustered softly, rethinking most of the things she had heard about him from his brother, Arthur. "Yeah, well…sometimes you have to fake your lifestyle, your family has to worry a bit." Alfred laughed as he rubbed the back of his ashy-colored hair, feeling embarrassed that he had admitted he wanted Arthur to worry about him. Natalia softly smirk as she looked away, blushing softly at his cheerful and inviting personality./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Don't worry about Gwen, she doesn't bite, but can be a little hyper." Alfred informed as he opened the gate at the edge of his driveway and saw the front door pop open and out run a golden puppy that rushed towards him and Natalia./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Gwen?" Natalia questioned as the dog tackled her and sent her to the ground as it licked her face./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Yeah…Gwen, my pooch." Alfred laughed as he pulled the dog off her and helped Natalia into the property before calling Gwen back into the gated property and watch her chase after a squirrel that was searching for fallen acorns. "Ah-" Natalia mentioned as they walked towards the front door, into the home./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"*End Of Chapter One*/p 


	2. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal"Natalia walked into the cozy home, past the butler whom had opened the door. The butler cheerfully greeted Alfred and Natalia before slinking away into the kitchen to prepare some refreshments. The wooden floors creaked under the weight of Natalia's high heeled boots as she turned around, admiring Alfred's home./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Natalia," Alfred called as he hung up his aviator coat, revealing his pewter button-down shirt that Natalia couldn't help but admire./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hmm?" Natalia asked, shuttering her gaze up to his face and a slight blush crept onto her face. "I was going to ask if you were hungry, but…I guess I should tell you my face is up here." Alfred laughed as he teased her, enjoying the hue of red across her soft cheeks. He had hoped that her crying fit earlier had made her feel better./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm famished." Natalia says curtly, rolling her eyes at the assumption of her checking him out./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Great. Me too." Alfred grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, away from the door, attempting to give her a tour of his home while his butler prepared lunch for them. "It'll be a little bit before lunch, so how bout a tour?" Alfred offered, but his mind was already focused on it. Natalia nodded as she returned the grip she had felt./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'His hand is so…warm.' Natalia thought as she looked at the back of Alfred's head, his words flittering in one ear and out the other./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nat?" Alfred waved his hand in front of her face, noticing she had spaced out. "Nat?" He called once more, confused at why she was so spacy. He placed his hand on her cheek and leaned in, hoping to tease her a little bit. Natalia was lost in thought, her gaze was glossy as Alfred approached her, they were only inches away. Natalia quickly snapped back to her senses when Alfred slowly blew on her, she quickly noticed her distance with him and put up her hand, looking down./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Alfred…may I ask something?" She quietly mumbled, almost as if she were shyer than Alfred originally believed. "Shoot." Alfred said as he turned on his heel and opened the glass door, which opened out into a massive sunroom. "Why do you like me as much as you do?" Natalia followed Alfred into the sunroom, blocking the entrance so he couldn't avoid answering the question. She wanted to know if he had an actual "reason" to like her or not, since he was obviously deeply devoted to her./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-so you don't remember?" He softly laughs as he looks out one of the many crystal-clear windows. He frowns as he looks at her, her blonde bangs hiding her soft face. "Natalia, I've loved you for a very long time. When I was fighting with your brother…I was pretty banged up, I didn't think I would survive from the wounds he left. Somehow, I managed to crawl out to a snow-covered meadow, and there was this gorgeous blonde girl, singing softly as she picked flowers. She turned around and quickly noticed me, dropping the flowers she rushed over towards me, dropping to her knees and helping heal my wounds." Alfred softly smiled and walked over to her, caressing her cheek. "It was during a time I hadn't officially met you and surprisingly wouldn't until we met at the first world's conference, but when I saw you, I knew it was you. I fell in love with you the moment you saved me. You didn't know who I was or why I was covered in blood, you just helped me. Your heart was so kind, so pure…I just…I couldn't help but falling for you. And my feelings haven't wavered since that day. In fact,…you had torn off a piece of your dress and used it as a tourniquet to stop the heavier bleeding. I've kept it with me since that day, I use it as a good luck charm." Alfred softly giggled, feeling embarrassed at his confession. Natalia looked at him, slightly confused because she hadn't remembered the fateful day Alfred had just mentioned, but then again, she hadn't remembered much during the times of the soviet war. All she could honestly remember from those times was her brother was hurting and she couldn't help it. Natalia looked down at the floor, feeling slightly moved as she recalled how passionately Alfred had shared it./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You've never stopped loving me because of what I did? That's all? I…I thought there would be more, I thought for someone to fall in love you must do something extraordinary…" Natalia confession, not knowing Alfred would be slightly hurt by her words. Alfred grabbed her hands and looked deeply into her eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Natalia, you saved my life. I am here BECAUSE OF YOU. Why wouldn't I love you after that? I was a total stranger to you and you still helped me and…gah!" Alfred leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips, pinning her towards the glass door. He grabbed her hips and pulled her into him, causing her to moan loudly. Natalia lost herself in the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her weight in him because her knees were weaker than an old lady's./p  
p class="MsoNormal""A-Alfred…" She mumbled between his lips, breaking the kiss in order to catch her breath. "You're quite passionate." She whispered, wiping her bottom lip on her blue sleeve./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Only for you." He winked as his gaze went towards the window./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I…don't remember this encounter, but…the way you describe it…" Natalia sighed, leaning against the door and scooting down towards the floor./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Alfred, I don't know if I am the same girl, but…perhaps…we could try…..but after I feel more at ease. Ivan just got engaged, after all…and that wound still hurts. Would you wait for me to heal?" Natalia picked at her fingertips, running her long-curved fingernails over the soft skin./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nat…I've waited this long, what's a little longer?" He said with a gleaming smile as he grabbed her hand firmly and yanked her up into his arms. "Just promise me, when you're healed, you'll come to me." Alfred whispered before gently kissing her nose. The action was so sweet and nothing Natalia had ever felt before. Even when her and Ivan were closer, he never treated her with this soft and loving kindness, it made Natalia's heart race. She craved this feeling, this feeling she could only compare with love./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"If I was in a meadow, I must have been searching for water lilies, they're my favorite..." She blushed as she pushed Alfred gently back, wanting some space so she would be able to restrain herself around the warm and compassionate composure of the man in front of her./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No, actually…I think you were picking sunflowers, but I don't remember clearly since I was bleeding to death. They could have been freaking dandelions for all I cared." Alfred laughed loudly before looking out the glass door and noticing his butler was approaching them./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-lunch must be ready." Alfred shuffled past her, ignoring the slight frown she expressed as he walked towards his butler./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Wonderful…" Natalia whispered softly to herself, looking at Alfred's back, feeling her heart tugging as if there was guilt winding itself around her heart. She followed them into the dining room and sat down across from Alfred, who was beaming with happiness at dining with the girl he was madly in love with./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*****/p  
p class="MsoNormal"After lunch, the pair decided to split and Natalia walked down the cobblestone path, alone and searching her memories, attempting to locate the memory Alfred talked about with such love and passion. She searched and searched, but nothing came to mind, which made her heart feel ten times heavier than it was. Natalia walked in through her front door, slamming the door harshly as she kicked off her shoes./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ivan…you stupid bastard!" She punched the wall, causing her skin to tear and knuckles to bleed. "How could you hurt me so?! Why did you not tell me anything?! Did I truly mean nothing to you?" She shook as she slid down to the floor and curled up into a ball, tears streaming down her face as she finally released the pent-up emotion she hadn't dealt with. She cried deep into the night, eventually falling asleep on the floor, tears staining her face as she dove into her dreams. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"***br /It was morning and the door burst open, smacking Natalia's ankle firmly. "Ugh, what the hell?" Natalia muttered as pain radiated throughout her leg. "Ah-sorry. Hey, whatcha doing on the floor?" Alfred asked as he poked his head around the corner, noticing Natalia was sprawled out./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Leave me be." Natalia muttered coldly as she rolled, trying to get up without causing more pain to her ankle. "You hit me pretty hard, you know. You should feel ashamed." Natalia wanted to spew her pain onto someone else, and unfortunately the only one around was Alfred./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-yeah, I do feel bad. Let me help." Alfred bent down and swept her up into his arms as he smirked happily. "Where are you planning on going?" He wanted to know where to take her, hoping to be of some help since he had injured her./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'd like to shower, but…you can put me down…" She muttered, she could feel her heart racing against his chest./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ah-no, no can do, Nat. I need to make sure your ankle isn't broken first and that requires looking at it, which I can't do right now." He winked as he played her and began walking up the wood stairs to his left. Natalia tried to squirm, but Alfred's tight grip prevented that./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hey, I like that you'll save me from certain death, but I don't think you can heal a broken neck, so stop it." He was firm with her as he walked up the stairs. Natalia could feel his defined muscles, his pecks and even an ab or two. 'He must actually work out…' Natalia thought to herself as she wrapped her arm around his neck./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Which way is your bedroom?" Alfred smirked as devious thoughts came to his mind, causing a deep blush to creep upon his face. Natalia scoffed and wiggled out of his arms, placing as little weight as she could until she noticed her ankle was not in any pain upon the full weight of her leg baring down on it. "You should never enter a lady's bedroom, where do your manners come from, honestly…" She whispered to herself./p  
p class="MsoNormal""A real man never enters a bedroom until they're married." She scoffed, pushing her overly conservative traditions on him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well, any time you're over Ivan and want to get hitched…I'm all for it." He patted the small of her back teasingly before following her to her bedroom. He saw her walk across the bedroom floor, into the bathroom which was attached with a small corridor./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No peaking." Natalia rolled her eyes as she locked the door and went to take a shower. Alfred looked around her room, noticing the wood paneling around the walls and walked over to her closet. He looked at all her navy gowns and came across a deep crimson gown in the very back. It looked as though it hadn't been worn in many years. He pulled it out and smiled brightly as he brought it to his face. "Natalia, this is the dress you wore." He whispered as he took in the scent of her clothing. A light white lily fragrance filled his nostrils as he held the dress to his chest and sat down on her bed./p 


End file.
